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Distracted Driving “Radar Gun” in Development

Jonathan Hernandez8 months ago

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and today on the blog, we take a look at a new radar gun that is being developed that may be able to detect whether or not a driver was texting while driving.

Details about the Radar Gun

A Virginia-based technology company, ComSonics, is currently developing a radar gun that is similar to the ones currently being used by police officers to determine if someone is speeding. The difference with this gun is that it will potentially be able to determine whether or not someone was using their phone while they were driving or not.

The technology is similar to what is already being used by cable repairmen to find where a cable line is damaged. It will be able to detect frequencies that are leaking from a transmission. A text message emits different frequencies than phone calls and data transfers, which can be distinguished by the device that is being developed.

One of the main foreseeable issues with the radar gun is whether or not the gun will be able to differentiate whose phone in the vehicle was being used at the time the gun was able to detect the frequency.

Important Information about Being Distracted While Driving

According to data from distraction.gov, there are thousands of wrongful deaths of people every year in the United States of people involved in distracted driving accidents:

In 2014, there were 3,179 people who were killed and another 431,000 people who were injured in motor vehicle accidents that involved distracted drivers.

At any given moment in the United States, there are about 660,000 drivers across the United States that are using hand-held electronic devices while they are driving.

The average driver takes their eyes off the road for about 5 seconds while looking or responding to a text message.